Reminiscences
by Certified Whovian
Summary: Clara and the Doctor go to visit a new planet where they are attacked by his enemies. They escape but at the last moment Clara slips out through the front doors of the TARDIS. Will this be the end for Clara? Part of my 'Mysteries of Time' series. Rated T just to be safe.
1. Prologue

**Disclaimer: I do not own Doctor Who but I wish I did.**

**Author's Note 2:If you are a new reader, ignore this and move on. So, kinda rushed Chapter 5 and missed key stuff, but I was helped by my friend Harsh Trivedi (Thanks Harsh! :D). I updated the 'time' in Ch 4, made it midnight. Updated Ch 5 quite a bit, hope it's better. You'll get an updated end of book thingy. I might include a sneak peak in the coming months.**

**Author's Note**** 1****: I don't know why I didn't think of this before. Here's a slight introduction. This is the first chapter in the first fic of my first series. Hope you enjoy. :D**

Location: unknown

Time: Between Earth years 1945 and 1965, Relative Time.

Geo-proximity: Unknown. Somewhere in The Mutter's Spiral

The man lay on the field. Shot. Dying. But happy to be rid of the thing in his head. It would never trouble him again. Never feed him lies and influence him. Too many people had died and he was tired of it. So he decided, if the only way to stop it was to die, then so be it.

He struggled off the field, shot while regenerating. No chance of escaping death. Blood flowed profusely from his arm. He had scratched his arm by mistake on a piece of metal jutting out of the ground a while ago, but now he felt no pain. All he wanted before he died was peace and solitude. So he was leaving the battlefield, going far, far away from the destruction.

He had arrived at his destination. Not that he had one to start with, but this place seemed to be quiet enough. "Yes, this'll do" he thought. At the last minute, he thought to send his friend a message, but his fingers struggled to type the letters. The communicator fell from his hands and made a beeping sound. He bent down and tried to reach for it, but collapsed under his own weight. He struggled to catch his breath. His body... he smiled. His body was doing all it could to save him but alas in vain. He closed his eyes, happy to be free from the voice in his head. But he was also filled with a strange feeling. Failure. He struggled for breath again. Knowing that the end was near, he did his best to form an apology. "I'm sorry Theta. I'm sorry I failed you. Most of all, I failed him." Finally he could take no more and breathed what would seem to be his last breath.

**Review please. It would really help a lot. This is my first fic and I need help from veteran fic writers like you. :)**


	2. Nuwer

**I do not own Doctor Who. This has been a long time wish of mine which shall never be fulfilled. :sob: Ooh, and almost forgot, Kudos to my friend Harsh Trivedi for the idea of the planet Nuwer. :)**

Location: Revolving around the tertiary star of the constellation of Xyron (unnamed)

Time: The year 21670, following the Hafta-Mavorion calendar, 2063 following the Earth's Gregorian calendar

Geo-proximity: Approximately 7 light years from the constellation of Kasterborous

Clara looked in wonder at the planet around her. People from everywhere. Not just aliens. The place was swarming with humans. "Nuwer", said the 11th Doctor. "That's what this planet's called. Nuwer. Ahhhh...this takes me back quite far." Clara pricked up her ears. The Doctor talking about his past? This didn't happen often. Not that he was likely to continue speaking. She turned and looked as earnest as she could. The Doctor turned and stared at her for about a second, and then gave in. "Fine..." he grumbled. They stopped at a nearby café for a cup of space-coffee made especially for humans, and so the Doctor began his story.

"Nuwer" he began. Clara beckoned him to go on. "Nuwer. It's a planet quite close to what was my home planet, Gallifrey. They were allies with our race, but never really friends. Most Timelords, unlike me and a few others, stayed true to their oath of 'never interfering'." He paused as the waiter came to serve their coffee, and continued once he left. "Where was I? Right...'never interfering'. One day, a deadly race known as the Drakens attacked their home planet. They looked at the Timelords for help, but the Timelords refused to interfere. They had lost all hope, when one man, who decided that his oath was not more important than an entire race, armed them and led them to war. Against all odds, they won that war. They were so in debt to the man that they offered to make him the leader of their race. He declined, but promised to meet them every now and then and help them rebuild their society. He returned having done a good deed, but he had still broken the law. They threw him off Gallifrey for that."

"Threw him off!" shouted Clara, but she realised her mistake too late. The Doctor shut up immediately and looked around the café. Luckily everybody seemed to have com-pods in their ears and hadn't heard him. He looked back at Clara. "You scream like that one more time, and I'll...I'll" he trailed off. "Sorry..." muttered Clara sheepishly. He looked at her angrily and for a second he was uncertain whether to continue to tell her. "Anyway..." he paused. Clara pretended to zip her mouth. He seemed satisfied. "Anyway, they later had to call him back. One, because he was important, so they couldn't just throw him off for too long; and Two, they found that he was right to have saved them, because the original timeline said that they survived the war because of someone mysterious who appeared just in time. That day was the single most important day for the Timelords, because from then they decided that, if it was important, they would have no choice but to intervene. Everything changed that day, and all because of one man."

"What was his name?" asked Clara. "And plus, you referred to him in the past tense. What happened to him, Doctor?" The Doctor stifled a sob. "Doctor? Doctor?!" Clara was afraid that she had hurt him, trying to take the subject further. "I'm sorry..." she said. "I'm rubbish at listening." "No, nothing's wrong with you being curious" said The Doctor. "It's just that this takes me back farther than I care to go. They used to tell me stories when I was young, stories of how...-Hmmm, what's that smell?" Trust the Doctor to change the topic at the wrong time. "What's wrong?" asked Clara. "Nothing" replied the Doctor. "Just that the air smells weird" "Smells of danger..." The Doctor looked back at her. "Anyway, where was I again? Right, him. A wonderful man he was. One of my favourite people. His name was-" was all the Doctor could manage before the waiter interrupted again. "What is it this time? The Doctor grumbled. "Sir," the waiter said. "There are people waiting to talk for you outside. Sontarans, sir." "Alright, I'll meet them" the Doctor said. "Perhaps we should continue this conversation later" suggested the Doctor. "Much later" was Clara's reply. The Doctor shot her a grateful smile and they began their journey to the front door.

It was quite a walk to the door. Clara wondered what had happened to the Doctor. How could he have broken down so suddenly? A man, who had saved millions of worlds with simply a smile and his fun nature, no guns, no armaments, always laughing. "The Universe has many mysteries, but perhaps the biggest of all is the Doctor" thought Clara. "I wonder why the Sontarans want to meet me" said the Doctor, interrupting Clara's thought train. "Yeah, I wonder too" said Clara, preoccupied.

They reached the door soon after. Clara reached for the handle, but the Doctor stopped her. "Better be ready for anything" he warned, patting the sonic screwdriver in his pocket. Clara nodded. And they stepped out onto the street.

They were greeted with a bright light. "Doctor" said the Sontaran right in front. "Ahhhhhh. High Commander...Commander..." "Bolgum" finished the Sontaran. "Ahhhhhh, Commander Bolgum. Nice, sunny day. Three wars were averted this day, no thanks to me. Perhaps one of the best days in history. So what can I do for you today?" asked the Doctor. "Die" replied the Sontaran. "We have received an order for your execution, Doctor" There was an awkward silence in the street. The Doctor tried to think up a smart reply to that, but people didn't usually order his execution without him knowing, so it was a completely new situation for him. "Clara" whispered the Doctor, a moment later. "You know when I told you to be ready for anything, right? Are you?" Clara nodded. "Good" said the Doctor. "RUN!"

**Plus, before I forget, please review. :)**


	3. The Unknown Awaits

**Author's Note: I finally completed it! Yes! And plus, I don't own Doctor Who. Blah Blah Blah...**

Location: The streets of Nuwer

Time: Same as last time!

Geo-proximity: Do I really need to tell you?

The Doctor and Clara ran for their life. The only time a normal person would see a potato running behind them screaming "Arghhhhhh" would be if they were dreaming. However for Clara and the Doctor the danger was very real. "The Sontarans are a much feared race in terms of warfare; in fact they are one of the best" said the Doctor, panting all the way. "Ahhhh... I don't remember the last time I had to run like this. I am way out of shape. I'd better train every other day if I'm going to have to run like this again." Clara sighed. The Doctor, ranting away as usual. She just wished he'd just keep quiet once in a while. There was a time and place for everything, for heaven's sake! She looked at him, ready to tell him to shut up; when she realised that he had already done so and was staring at her. "Nobody gives me that look unless they want me to shut up" said the Doctor. "I've learnt to take the cue." Clara smiled as they ran to the streets to the TARDIS.

Running through the streets of Nuwer was like running through a maze. Every time they would turn, they would run into another intersection. It was beginning to get tiring when all of a sudden she saw a familiar sight. A shop the Doctor had pointed out, one that sold rare antiques from across the universe. From here, it was only another two streets to the left and the two streets to the right! She was quite ahead of him, so she figured she would reach the TARDIS first. She fished in her pocket for her copy of the TARDIS key. That was when she realised that she had left the jacket containing it back at the café.

"Doctor!" she shouted. "I've left the key back at the café!" She continued running, while hearing him fiddling with the sonic. "What are you doing?" she shouted. "Remote detonation" he replied. "I'm making your TARDIS key explode so that it doesn't fall into the wrong hands. Anyone who had that key would be able to enter the TARDIS, while the opposite is also true, nobody can enter without it. The sheer amount of technology and energy in the TARDIS would advance the tech of the Sontaran race by 2500 years. A very dangerous combination, Sontarans and technology." But Clara had stopped listening after the 'remote detonation' thingy. Her eyes were set ahead on the approaching horizon. At the end of the road was something that made her extremely happy. The TARDIS. But her happiness was short-lived, for she realised that parked around it were Sontaran ships. Luckily for them, the ships were empty or else they would be dead meat on top of Sontaran toast (as an old saying says). "Doctor!" she shouted for a second time. "Throw the key at me. I'll open the TARDIS" Though she was confident that nothing extremely bad would happen, she doubted that she would be able to open the doors without fumbling. The Doctor had come to the same conclusion. "There'll be no need for that" was his reply. He threw the TARDIS key across a distance of 250 metres, landing it square in the centre of the keyhole.

"How did you do that!" exclaimed Clara, once they were (supposedly) safely flying through space in the TARDIS. "There's no way in hell that you could have landed that in the keyhole from 250 metres away! Where did you learn to do that?!" All she got in return was a sad smile, as if the Doctor were remembering something. "I learnt it back on Gallifrey, from a wonderful man, the same one we were talking about a while ago." A few tears escaped his eyes. He proceeded to wipe them, but Clara stopped him. "Let me" she said. She took a tissue from a handy tissue box and started to dab them away. The Doctor flinched, unaware to any female touch on his face except River's. However, he did nothing to stop her. "Doctor" she said, wiping away the last tear. "You don't have to share your past with me if it hurts you. Now smile!" The Doctor mustered the best smile he could at that instant. The instant didn't last very long, for a moment later the TARDIS shuddered once. And again. And again. A thing or two tumbled out of the cupboard. "Doctor" said Clara, scared. "What's going on?!" She ran towards him, but she tripped over a small wire sticking out of the console. Under normal circumstances she would have got up. But just that instant the TARDIS got fired at from behind and toppled over. "Silly me" said the Doctor. "I forgot to put the shields... CLARA!" Clara had slid all the way to the open front doors of the TARDIS and was hanging on with all her might. "Doctor! Help me!" she screamed. "I'll do something, don't worry!" he said, but the helpless look on his face told her that her time was up. She looked at him and smiled. "Don't worry about me" she said. "Run you clever boy, and remember..." "No!" he screamed. "We'll figure something out! CLARA!" That was when he noticed the object at his feet. He switched it on and threw it at her, just as she fell out. "Catch it! It's a portable Dimension vault. It'll keep you safe and take you to Earth while I keep the Sontarans away" he shouted at her. She heard him. It was a miracle she could hear him after her exposure to the raw Time Vortex. She clawed wildly at the object, falling into the unknown.

**Please review and give me your speculations on the next chapter. :)**


	4. A Timely Arrival

**Author's Note 2: If you have not read the note in the prologue, I'll repeat myself. I've updated this chapter slightly and the next one considerably. Old readers might notice, the new ones might not. Anyway, let's move on.**

**Author's Note 1: There are two things to say. Firstly, there was an error in the previous chapter, which has been corrected. Secondly, I am experimenting with splitting up the chapter. Each set of characters will be in nearly the same time zone as they were before and any change of place and time will be part of the story and so won't be mentioned again. I must insist that if you have an account, please review about the splitting, whether it is a good idea. Sorry if I sound fussy. :P :)**

Location: Nowhere

Geo-proximity: Nothing

Time: No time

Clara fell through the Time Vortex. Time had no meaning here. She could have been falling for seconds or days, but there was no way to tell. Normally, people falling through the vortex would be burn to a crisp, but Clara had the protection of the Dimension vault. She was glad for it. It seemed to give off some sort of warmth, as if it knew her plight and wanted to help her. But even with the Dimension vault, Clara had to close her eyes. She had always thought of the Vortex as a river in which the TARDIS, a ship, sailed. Just like the Doctor had told her to. Unlike the previous fall through the Vortex, when she had been saving the Doctor, this fall was a thousand times more terrifying. That had been only a timeline (albeit one of the biggest in the universe). This was the entirety of time. Just glancing at it gave her nightmares. The Vortex was terrifying enough. The sudden beep of the Dimension Vault scared the hell out of her.

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Location: New York, in a hut in a dark, secluded alley; Earth

Time: 12:00 a.m. GMT, 22nd February 2014

Geo-proximity: Mercury, Venus and Mars, any one can be the closest depending on the time of the year.

It was midnight. The normally bustling city of New York was silent. It was as if the city itself was asleep. All was silent at the Vastra and gang headquarters, when the door literally blew apart. "The Doctor needs machine guns and alpha meson blasters!" shouted Strax, waving a communicator. Madam Vastra, who was at the time reading a newspaper, shot daggers at him with her eyes. "He may have said Clara's in trouble" added Strax sheepishly. Vastra looked questioningly at him. "Perhaps we should continue this conversation inside" she suggested.

"So let me sum it up" said Jenny. "The Doctor and Clara were visiting a planet called Nuwer, when they were set on by a gang of Sontarans hell bent on executing them. They managed to escape, but at the last moment, Clara slipped out of the TARDIS. Now the Doctor needs our help." "Looks like you don't need me to explain it to you" said the Doctor's voice from the communicator in Strax's hand, making all three of them jump out of their skins. "There's a route being broadcast to your communicator. Accept it and follow it to the end location. Ohhhh, and carry the stuff I am going to tell you. Clara's life depends on you..."

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"Sorry about the extremely loud beep" said the Doctor. "I've overridden the Dimensional Vault's protocols to broadcast this message." Clara heaved a sigh of relief on hearing a real voice in the Vortex. The Doctor freaked out hearing the sigh. "Anything wrong?!" he asked, terrified that something bad had happened. "Nothing" was Clara's faint reply. "Just glad to hear you." "Ahhhhhh..." said the Doctor. An awkward silence followed. The Doctor was the first to speak. "Well..., anyway, I've done some stuff since you slipped out. I've activated the homing function in the Dimension Vault, it should be homing to the location I've set in any second. Don't worry, you're in very safe hands. I think."

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"Can somebody remind me why we are carrying a mattress?" inquired a fussy Jenny. Vastra hushed her. "But I need an answer!" she insisted. Just as she said this, The Vortex opened up far above them and Clara fell out screaming. "Never mind" said Jenny.

"Thanks" said Clara, landing on the mattress. "I was in really safe hands." She choked up. Vastra, uneasy about the sudden change in mood, asked what was wrong. "Nothing" Clara replied. "It's just that I am glad to be back on Earth after my time in the Vortex. It's just horrible out there. Gives you migraines and fills you up with terrifying images of the past and the future. Now I understand why the Doctor warned never to look into the Vortex." "It's alright" Jenny reassured. But she didn't know how wrong she was, for that very moment, a band of running Sontarans appeared on the horizon. "Uh-oh. That's so not good" said Clara worriedly.

They ran like there were people behind them trying to kill them. Which was true. They tried their best to outrun the Sontarans. But the streets and avenues of New York are even more confusing than those of Nuwer. The Sontarans eventually cornered them. "See! I told you we should have brought weapons!" said Strax, pointing at the other Sontarans. The Sontarans raised their arms to shoot. And they would have, had the mysterious man not arrived.

**Please review. :D**


	5. Mumbling Sontarans

**Author's note 2: I've updated this chapter after advice from my friend Harsh Trivedi. There are slight changes, but the overall thing remains the same.**

**Author's Note 1: Sorry that it took this long to post. I just didn't have time to write. :( Enough of the talking. Enjoy!**

"Oops! Seem to have wandered off!" said the strange man in front of them. He was of medium height, had black hair, looked completely normal; but something about him radiated power. "Hi! My name's George" he said, cheerfully. "So sorry to disturb you. Never intended to come here at all."

The Sontarans stared at him. His fun tone didn't seem to match his appearance. He looked at Clara. "Why are there a bunch of potatoes staring at me?" he asked. "No don't tell me. Aliens aren't you?! HA! So the rumours are true." The Sontarans continued to stare at him, surprised that their plan of a simple execution had been foiled by a guy who didn't want to be there in the first place.

"So what is this?" he asked. "Some sort of execution? Hmmm... can't allow you to that, you know? I was a UN activist at some point of time; they really wouldn't appreciate public executions by aliens." Clara understood. He was trying to buy them some time. Brave man, standing up to aliens who had enough firepower to blow the Earth out of existence. "Would they?" he continued. "So how about we put those guns down, eh? Don't want lovely people like them getting hurt would we?" he said, gesturing at Jenny and Vastra standing behind Clara. "Enough!" shouted Commander Bolgum. "Kill the companion!" Clara tried to break free of her captors, but it was too little, too late. She closed her eyes, knowing that Death was coming for her...

...Only to find George in front of her, having stopped the ray in mid-air. "Seems like your simple plan to execute them is not so simple after all" he said. The ray disintegrated like a child letting out a shower of sand out of his hand. He spoke with the same casualness as he had spoken moments ago, but there was something different too. A tinge of fire and ice, threatening and cold at the same time as casual. "There'll be no killing while I am here" he continued. "I was a fool for not having stopped this earlier. Since **I** let this thing escalate to this position, I'll be nice and I'll give you a warning. Leave now and live. Or prepare for the worst time of your life!" Commander Bolgum laughed and the Sontaran army followed suit. "HAHAHAHA! You think we fear death?!" he exclaimed. "You are mistaken, human. What could you do to us, anyway? It is clear that you are lying, Mr Ge-orge. You have no weapon with you." Of course, Sontarans were generally right with any war-related thing, but they did get it wrong sometimes. George did have a weapon, he was prepared to shoot in self-defence, and he would have, had a voice at the back ranks of the Sontaran army not called out. "His name is not George and he is not a human."

"Pray speak, Doctor Rask" said Commander Bolgum. "This is interesting" 'not George' thought. The Sontaran doctor came forward, rubbed his hands, cleared his throat, and did lots of other unnecessary stuff. But it did compel enough attention. "He hides his name" said Doctor Rask. "Not because he fears saying it, but because we fear hearing it." "Doctor Rask of the High Elite of Sontar, I suppose. Nice to-" began George (let's call him that for now), before Bolgum interrupted him.

"What do you mean, we fear his name?!" asked an angry Commander Bolgum. "WE FEAR NO ONE! What is your name anyway, creature?" "My name has no translation in the modern Sontaran tongue, but there is one in ancient Sontaran" he said in a deathly calm voice. "What's ancient Sontaran?" asked Clara. "It is a telepathic tongue" replied Vastra. "One where you use energy to transfer your thoughts outside your body and make them appear as a symbol. Strax knows all about it, he'll tell you. Won't you Strax? Strax? Strax?!" But Strax was too preoccupied with the symbols floating between George and the army. "It can't be, It can't be!" he muttered. "Strax, what's wrong?" asked Clara. "Who is he?" But Strax continued muttering. Clara was wondering if the day could get any weirder, when a magical thing happened. The Sontaran army took a step back!

"So, who are you?" she asked him, but he cut her off. "No time for that, the Doctor will be here any minute" he said. He then tossed a card at her. "That's a specially printed card. If you ever need help and the Doctor can't help you, call that number." And before Clara could say anything, he stepped into the shadows and they swallowed him up. But suddenly there was a voice. "Goodbye Clara Oswald, and I hope we meet again." A zap followed, leaving Clara and the Paternoster gang standing in the middle of the road, dumbfounded.

**Fingers crossed for next book... Oh and don't forget to review! :D**


	6. Epilogue

**Author's note: The parting chapter. I'm trying to keep this story and note short (you look at the end of the note and you'll know that I failed in the latter), so let's begin. So, about this series. I've planned two series, the first being 'Mysteries of Time' (three fics). Mysteries of Time: Reminiscences (the one you're reading right now) is the first and Mysteries of Time: Reunion is second. We'll leave the third as unknown for now. :P You can expect 'Reunion' in a few months. Funny thing is, I had never originally planned to write 'Reunion'. But then I decided, 'Reminiscences' needed a 'transition' story before 'Revelation'. Plus, I actually messed up the title but couldn't bother to change it. Well, enough talk! Enjoy the last chapter! :D P.S. This is a pre Day of the Doctor fic. In case you were wondering. The rest will be post TDOTD :P**

Clara and the Gang watched as the Sontaran army got into their ships and ran away. Amazing, what a single man could do. They just sat there, speechless, until Clara heard the familiar 'whirr, whirr' of the TARDIS circuitry. "The Doctor!" exclaimed Clara. All four of them jumped to their feet as the TARDIS landed. "Yes, it's me!" he said, jumping out the front doors. "Did you miss-" he started, but was interrupted by Clara punching him in the face. "What took you so long?!" demanded Clara. The Doctor made all sorts of noises to sound hurt, but then he saw the 'no nonsense' look on Clara's face. "Well, it's not my fault!" he protested. "Old Girl, wouldn't land where I wanted her to. Kept bouncing across time." "I don't know what's got into her. Never done it that many-" he said, but stopped when Clara ran and hugged him. "Ooh, hugging now, eh? I must have done something right!" he joked.

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Later in the TARDIS...

"Well..." said the Doctor, after Clara had told him everything that had happened. "That's a lot to take in." Clara flashed an expectant look at him, begging for more details. "Well, I can't tell you too much about him, as I haven't met him, but I can tell you this much...he is a Timelord." Clara arched her eyebrows in surprise. "How do you know that?" she asked, as they landed on Earth. "That language you described, that's Ancient Sontaran" he replied. "There were very few except the Sontarans who knew it, and the only humanoids were the Timelords. And that ray stopping thing, meddling with time, blah blah blah." "Nevertheless,he's out there, Clara. And we are the only ones..." the Doctor trailed off. He stepped out and looked at the field in front of him. "And whatever happens, I will find him.

**Sorry to make you wait. Please review. And those who want sneak peeks into 'Reunion' or something else, please PM me. Goodbye until next time. :D. Old readers, please tell me how the changes changed the story.**


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